Control Gmail With Custom Keyboard Shortcuts & Just a Number Pad

Gmail has great built-in keyboard shortcuts to carry out the frequent tasks like composing, archiving & replying to emails with single keystrokes. But if you’re a really active user who loves to use the less frequently used shortcuts like marking conversations & jumping between drafts & sent messages, using custom shortcuts is a better way to maximize productivity.

Gmail Lab’s Custom keyboard shortcuts feature does just this by letting users assign significant tasks to custom keys. If you’re in accounting or an expert with a number pad, it’s even possible to assign actions to each numeric key which can save a lot of time by minimizing key travel.

If you’ve made any drastic changes or feel more at home with the original shortcuts you can always go back by pressing the Restore Defaults button in the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. For memorising shortcuts, Google has made is really easy to access keyboard shortcuts from anywhere in Gmail by pressing Shift + ?

Access assigned shortcut keys from anywhere in Gmail

This window dynamically updates itself to reflect the user’s preferences and changes.

Conclusion

Reassigning keyboard shortcuts to easily reachable areas is a solid way to improve any Gmail user’s productivity. If you’re feeling experimental, you can even assign shortcuts to dedicated macropads for the better results.

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